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Wednesday, 8 February 2012

A Wolf At Your Door Records Part1 - Hildamay Interview & Review

Meet
Hildamay- 5 lads from Kent
set to take the rock world by storm. Signed to A Wolf At Your Door Records set amongst an
impressive roster that includes Deaf Havana and Lower Than Atlantis, the
quintet have a busy 2012 ahead of them. So, make sure you jump on the Hildamay
bandwagon now!

Hildamay are giving their fans a treat this Valentine's day with
the release of their single, “The Light”, taken from their forthcoming debut
album. Est.1987 caught up with the guys at the start of their tour with Sonic
Boom Six to talk all things Valentine's Day, their live show and a certain “New
Girl”...

Hey guys! So, this is your second
night on tour tonight – are you looking forward to it and what can we expect?

OLLIE-Yeah, it’s gone well so far. Newcastle was better than
we thought it was going to be. We played there before in August last year, and
it was a bit of a dodgy show, so it was nice to go back there and play to a
better crowd.

CHRIS- People seemed to enjoy our set;
no-one walked off or anything during it [laughs]

TIM- We’re quite a different style to
Sonic Boom Six. What we do is slightly different so we were a bit worried about
that, but it went well.

Sum up your live show in three
words?

TOM- Sweat…

TIM- Loud, sweaty and manic.

New single "The Light" out 14th February

You had an EP- “We Loved, We Lost”
out last year- Do you feel that’s kind of driven the live show and fans are
singing everything back at you now?

TIM- I think we’re still getting there
with it really. It’s only more recently that we’ve noticed that people are
actually singing along to the songs and that people at the front are actually
getting involved. We played shows before, when we’d just released it, and there
weren’t many people that knew the songs, so it’s nice now. It’s nice to look
out there and not have to sing [laughs].

You’re touring with Sonic Boom Six
then Max Raptor which is quite a long stint on the road. Are you looking
forward to it?

ALL- Yes!

TOM- Just hope the weather picks up a
bit.

OLLIE- We’ve been sitting at home waiting
for this…something to do I suppose.

TIM- Going to the job centre gets a bit
boring after a while.

Do you go wild on tour or keep it
quite tame?

TIM- We seem to have built up this
reputation.

CHRIS- The thing is, if we know we’re
sleeping in the van we have to get a bit pissed because otherwise it’s going to
be absolute hell especially on a night like tonight!

STEVE- And, it’s a club night tonight
[after the show]…it just encourages us.

Hildamay

So, we’re getting your new single
“The Light” for Valentine’s Day- what are you guys getting?

TIM- Each other!

ALL- We’ll go for a Nandos!

OLLIE- Band Nandos

TIM- “Bandos!” What are you doing Sean?-
you’re the only one with a girlfriend

SEAN- It’s her birthday too on Valentine’s…

TIM- She can come to Nandos with us!

“The Light” is the first taste of
your album- what else can we expect from the other tracks and when will it be
out?

Guitarist Chris

OLLIE-They’re all going to be different
for a start.

TIM- “The Light” is one of the crazier
ones I think, but lots of radio friendly songs.

TOM- Something for everyone really…

TIM- Quite a bit of grunge in there as
well. There’s a real 90s feel in it, in terms of the punk side of it and the
grunge side.

SEAN- It takes it back to that time of
gritty rock. There’s an era there that I wish I was born in, Rival Schools and
all that genre.

TOM- We haven’t got a release date
confirmed yet, but we’re looking at about September, end of the summer.

You grew up in Kent- did your
experiences there inspire you to start a band?

SEAN- Yeah, we were in this suburban area
and there wasn’t really much going on and we had to go to London to go to gigs. I think it does inspire
you because I live in a town that’s pretty much cultureless and there’s nothing
really to do and it inspires you to do something. We rehearsed in my dads
garage and it’s part of escaping.

TIM- We didn’t really grow up together
but just came together at the right time really. But yeah, around our scene it
was just trying to get out of it- the same five bands playing the same five
venues. We didn’t play local shows; we tried to get gigs in London.

TOM- Although, now Kent does have
a wicked music scene.

Hildamay on stage at The Cockpit

You’re on Wolf At Your Door Records
who’ve got some great people on their roster- Is it nice being a part of that?

TIM- Yeah, it’s awesome! We’ve made some
really great friends over the last year since it all kicked off and a lot of
them are from A Wolf At Your Door or from SGR, our management company.

TOM- It’s bands who we’ve kind of grown
up listening to.

CHRIS- We’re still stoked about it to be
honest, it’s really good than we’re on that label.

Supporting Sonic Boon Six, Hildamay have a slightly different
vibe, but this is welcomed by the Leeds crowd
here at The Cockpit tonight. Opening with “This House Became Our Home”, taken
from their 2011 EP, lead singer Tim Lawrence’s gravely vocals pierce through
the room. His forceful energy sees him blast through fast and aggressive
“Parachutes” and more sombre EP title track “We Loved, We Lost”.

New single “The Light” gives the audience a perfect first
taster of Hildamay’s new material and proves that things are definitely looking
bright for this cheeky quintet. Closing the set with the aptly named “Delicate”,
their nods to bands such as Glassjaw and Thursday shine through.

Ollie & Sean

The dynamic energy and range in their performance drives the
crowd that at first glance may have been more interested in the headliners, but
now can’t help but take notice at what Hildamay have to offer!